Game Show Network
GSN (formerly called Game Show Network) is a cable niche channel which debuted on December 1, 1994. The network was originally 100% dedicated to classic game shows with some original programming to supplement that (including original games Decades and Trivia Track, the "good morning"-esque Club AM, the clip-filled As Seen On, and Faux Pause), but began removing most of the classics in favor of more original programming and more recent games. ''Wheel'' Reruns Wheel of Fortune was among the shows presented on GSN's first day, which began with the 1983 syndicated premiere. The episode was prefaced by an intro by one of the network's on-air personalities, Peter Tomarken (himself no stranger to the genre), which consisted of a brief-but-thorough essay on the show's history while clips of the nighttime premiere played next to him; this included a statement that the daytime series ran for a grand total of 4,215 episodes. Nighttime GSN has aired many nighttime episodes, barring Seasons 3-4 (1985-87) and Seasons 8-9 (1990-92) for reasons unknown. The network began by airing Season 1 (1983-84). Season 5 (1987-88) was added to the rotation in early 1996, followed by Season 10 (1992-93) in 1997. GSN continued on a rotation of these three seasons, favoring Season 10 (1992-93), until Fall 1998. In Fall 1998, Season 2 (1984-85) episodes began airing and all others were dropped. This went for a near-complete cycle, which was replaced by Season 13 (1995-96) in 1999. In turn, Season 14 (1996-97) replaced that later the same year or in early 2000 (with Season 13 (1995-96) running on weekends). Season 7 (1989-90) was featured on the lineup beginning in 2000, and inexplicably jumping back to Season 6 (1988-89) from 2002-04. The newest season aired in regular rotation was Season 14 (1996-97), but the newest episodes aired were ten from Season 24 (2006-07) during the 2010 Black Friday marathon. Since around 2004-05, GSN repeats of Wheel generally omit any sweepstakes rules, consolation prize plugs, and contestant/audience plugs; further, they "crunch" the credits to air promos, typically ending the show prematurely. These tactics are generally frowned upon by game show fans, who prefer "complete" airings. Probably the most recognizable season for recent viewers is Season 12 (1994-95), which GSN infamously aired in its entirety for three consecutive "cycles" (returning to the season premiere following the season finale) from 2007-09. For the last decade or so, GSN has had similar limited leases of other shows from the Sony library such as Jeopardy!, The Newlywed Game, and The $100,000 Pyramid. King World Logo Initially on nighttime repeats (as well as those for sister show Jeopardy!), the King World logo, music, and spiel were replaced by the Columbia-TriStar Television logo, music, and spiel by Charlie O'Donnell. The spiel began with "Distributed by..." (said by either Johnny Gilbert for Jeopardy! or Jack Clark/M. G. Kelly/Charlie/Johnny for Wheel), followed by Charlie's "Columbia-TriStar Television!". The spiel also occurred on other Sony-owned games including Pyramid, The Joker's Wild, and Tic-Tac-Dough. In late 2000 when Season 7 (1989-90) was being reran, and by 2002 when they were showing Season 6 (1988-89), GSN began leaving the King World logo and spiel intact on Wheel with the Columbia-TriStar logo (minus Charlie's spiel) following it. Daytime The daytime version has remained largely untouched, minus three episodes (see below). A Total Living interview with Chuck Woolery included clips of the March 15, 1978 show with a 2004 GSN logo, suggesting that the network has it as well. They have all daytime episodes from about mid-1985 onward, as confirmed by at least three posts on alt.tv.game-shows in 1996-97. ''Wheel 2000 The entire series, which primarily ran on CBS, was also aired by GSN and continued in repeats afterward. While originally having a prominent place among the "Kids' Zone" block, along with network exclusive ''Jep! and classic child-oriented games (including Joker! Joker! Joker! and the 1970s-80s revivals of Juvenile Jury), it moved around the schedule several times over the ensuing three years. By mid-2001, the show was put on Fridays at 4:30 AM as part of the "Cable in the Classroom" hour, with Jep! airing at 4:00. The reruns ceased in October 2001. 12 Games of Christmas The December 25, 1992 show led off the network's Christmas-themed marathon of game show episodes. Hosted by Betty White (who appeared on the daytime show in June 1988 and later appeared on nighttime in December 2008), each episode had a play-along question for the home audience, the Wheel one being "What is the Christmas gift Vanna gives to Pat?" (the answer was "A book by Jack Paar"). Oddly, the episode had a TV-PG rating despite nothing in-show warranting it. Merv Griffin Tribute On August 18-19, 2007, following the death of series creator Merv Griffin, GSN aired several Wheel and Jeopardy! episodes in tribute along with the nighttime premiere of Play Your Hunch (April 15, 1960) and a To Tell The Truth episode he guest-hosted (April 17 or 24, 1961). While the Jeopardy! marathon only consisted of the Million-Dollar Masters tournament at Radio City Music Hall (May 2002) and its 4,000th episode (aired the day after and taped at the same venue), Wheel fans got considerably more variety: Daytime * June 7, 1976 (#368; only Woolery episode reran) * December 13, 1982 (#2,016; Vanna White's first permanent show) * January 9, 1989 (#3,564; Pat Sajak's last daytime show {listed by GSN as #NTD1-3686}) Nighttime * September 19, 1983 (#S-001/Premiere: Jeff/Leslie/Linda {listed by GSN as #S-0001}) * October 5, 1987 (#S-796: Big Month of Cash, Day 1 {listed by GSN as #S-0796}) * November 14, 1988 (#S-1026: Radio City Music Hall, Day 1) * September 24, 1992 (#S-1769: includes clips of the 10th-Anniversary gala) * February 24, 1997 (debut of the electronic puzzle board {listed by GSN as #S-2656}) * April 1, 1997 (Alex Trebek and Lesly Sajak guest-host while Pat and Vanna play for charity {listed by GSN as #S-2677}) * November 10, 2003 (#S-3946: ceremonial 4,000th episode/clip show) According to this Invision post, the airing order was 368, 2016, S-0001, S-0796, S-1026, S-2656, S-3946, S-2677, NTD1-3686, S-1769. Promos GSN has done several promos for Wheel, including a commercial parodying the wrestling company then known as WWF with Pat "Powerhouse" Sajak. Conversely, both Wheel and Jeopardy! promoted the network in short ads during the credits in the late 1990s, and also used part of the Radio City Music Hall intro footage from the 1988 shows as part of a promo for Press Your Luck when acquired by GSN in 2001. Another Wheel-esque promo was part of the network's semi-generic 2007 "Get in the Game" promotion. The faux Wheel included $0, $10,000, Bankrupt, and a Jackpot wedge somewhat resembling its 1986-88 daytime version; the wedges all had a white border on the sides, which resulted in Bankrupt looking much like it did from 1974-75. External Links * GSN's official website Category:Networks